In part 2 of AllHipHop.com’s exclusive interview with Brooklyn rapper Papoose, the creator of the soon to be released You Can’t Stop Destiny album addresses his professional relationship with wife – and fellow emcee – Remy Ma. Could the couple possibly drop a joint project in the future?
Pap touches on that subject during the discussion. He also covers switching up his sound for the Remy and Ty Dolla Sign assisted track “Micheal Jackson,” paying tribute to the life of recently killed New York artist Chinx, and what he wants his legacy to be when the veteran rhymer is no longer here.
[ALSO READ: EXCLUSIVE: Papoose Talks “You Can’t Stop Destiny” LP, New York Hip Hop & Perceived Shots At Jay Z]
![Remy Ma-Papoose 3](https://allhiphop.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/remy-ma-papoose-3.png?w=420)
You’ve done songs with your wife Remy Ma. When the two of you get in the booth to record, is there a competitive nature between the two of you musically?
[Laughs]. Sometimes. Steel sharpens steel. We keep it like that. It makes the music come out better that way. But she’s the best though. [Laughs]
A lot of people were feeling your cypher at the BET Hip Hop Awards last year. Have you ever considered doing a full project together?
I can’t see why not in the future, but right now she’s focused on her situation and I’m focused on Papoose. We come together time-to-time, but that is our major objective right now. If something happens in between, we let the music dictate that. It has to be right. Sometimes when it’s right, moments like the cypher happens. We don’t want to force it.
You did a song with her on your new album along with Ty Dolla Sign – “Michael Jackson.” I’m going to be honest. When I saw the tracklist and knowing your history, I was expecting something more like “Broken Slanguage.”
It’s never what you expect. We don’t want to do what everybody expects. We want to do different things, because when people start expecting, it becomes boring. We want to keep them guessing. We’re gonna always reinvent and come with a new sound. It’s a dope record. Shout out to Ron Brownz. What’s your favorite joint on the album?
I like the intro. I’m a DJ Premier fan, so I like “The Plug.”
You might like the intro or a record like “The Plug” – and by you saying you’re a Premo fan, that automatically tells me you’re a fan of real Hip Hop. So I can capture your support on the project, but I gotta keep it moving now. I can’t make the whole album geared towards you.
The world is a big place, so the record with myself, Remy and Ty – it’s another audience. I have people tell me that’s their favorite record. Then I got other people tell me “Illuminati” is their favorite record.
That was one of my favorites too.
I got other people saying “Global Warming” was their favorite. So I feel like that’s a good project when you can reach different people. Everybody’s not gonna be a fan of every record on the project.
Did you feel like “Michael Jackson” was more radio friendly?
Nah, I wouldn’t say that at all. Honestly, anything can be radio friendly. I’ve seen the damnedest record become a radio record from “Put It In Your Mouth” to…
[Laughs] That’s true.
Yeah, let’s keep it real. Let’s not be so hard on the lyrical guys. [Laughs] From “Put It In Your Mouth” to my man Bobby Shmurda to a Biggie record, all these rappers have different types of sounds that became radio records.
Speaking of Hip Hop in general, what are some of the albums from this year that you’ve listened to the most?
I can’t really say. A lot of the music is not that captivating to me. I listen to Remy’s music. I listen to my own music. I’m a big Lox fan.
I’m just a fan of quality music. Not just Hip Hop. I like R&B/Soul music. To be honest, I listen to a lot of classical, because that’s some of the best music. But nothing this year has been that captivating to me.
Earlier this year, you released a dedication song for Chinx. Did you have a close relationship with him?
I can’t say we were close, but I definitely met him before. I know him from back in the days when Stack Bundles was doing his thing.
I actually ran into him right before that happened. We had a conversation at one of [DJ Kay] Slay’s events. He basically let me know that he always f*cked with my music. I showed him the same love. We spoke briefly about how we both used to f*ck with Stack. R.I.P. Stack Bundles.
We had a real positive conversation. It’s crazy a couple of weeks later that happened to him. I just wanted to pay tribute to him. He was definitely a good dude.
You ended your album with “Obituary 2014″ where you paid tribute to several entertainers that passed away last year. What would you want your legacy to be?
On “Obituary,” I talk about their life and what they brought to the table. I give you a description of that individual’s life, and I pay tribute to their life rather than focus on their deaths. I was never really a fan of embracing the day someone dies. I never acknowledge that. I rather celebrate their birthday than the day the person passed away.
I lost two of my closest cousins. I lost the closest person to me in my whole life. To the point, I feel guilty for even being here on this planet without him. That’s how close we were.
When the day they died comes around, I get angry when people bring that up. Like, “Why the f*ck would we acknowledge that?” I rather pay tribute to the day he was born, and on “Obituary” I try to do that.
To answer your question, I just want people to talk about what it is. I’m not trying to make nothing up, no phony story. Those who know me – if you don’t, do your research – see the type of person I was, what I brought to the table, what I accomplished, what I didn’t accomplish, what I stood for, what my message was, what my idea of life was. That’s that. You don’t gotta make nothing up.
[ALSO READ: Chinx’s Debut Album Will Be Released In August]
Papoose’s You Can’t Stop Destiny is scheduled for release on July 17.
Follow Papoose on Twitter @Papooseonline and on Instagram @papoosepapoose.
Stream Papoose’s You Can’t Stop Destiny below. Pre-order the album on iTunes and Google Play. Purchase a special autographed copy of You Can’t Stop Destiny at Newbury Comics.
Read part 1 of AllHipHop.com’s interview with Papoose here.